{"id":37987,"date":"2016-09-15T22:46:13","date_gmt":"2016-09-16T03:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/?p=37987"},"modified":"2016-09-19T09:30:40","modified_gmt":"2016-09-19T14:30:40","slug":"chancellor-delivers-fall-plenary-address","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/chancellor-delivers-fall-plenary-address\/","title":{"rendered":"Chancellor delivers fall plenary address"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chancellor Mark Mone celebrated UWM\u2019s 60th<\/sup> anniversary Thursday, noting its long list of accomplishments in research and teaching and announcing a challenge for students, faculty members and staff to do 60,000 hours of service this year.<\/p>\n

He acknowledged that these are challenging times in higher education but promised that UWM would adapt, just has it has in the past. When teachers were needed, UWM supplied them. When veterans came home from war, the university educated them, he reminded the crowd gathered for the fall plenary at the Helene Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve talked a lot about collaboration this afternoon,\u201d Mone said. \u201cI can\u2019t stress it enough. It\u2019s who I am, it\u2019s how we operate and it\u2019s the root of shared governance. I think we can accomplish even more if we work together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mone challenged the campus community to work together in key areas, including maintaining the university\u2019s elite research prowess, improving the student experience and communicating the stories of the positive impact UWM has on the community.<\/p>\n

Buffeted by changes in demographics and technology, higher education has undergone seismic change in recent years, and will likely continue to do so, Mone said. But UWM will succeed by recognizing the rapidly changing landscape and anticipating needs of students and the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere must be areas where we see tremendous growth opportunities to keep us on as positive of a growth trajectory as we can,\u201d Mone said.<\/p>\n

Final numbers aren\u2019t in yet, but enrollment this year is likely to be down between 3 and 4 percent, Mone said. That largely reflects demographic trends. But Mone also pointed to several bright spots, including a rise in online enrollment.<\/p>\n

Another bright spot: Illinois. Students from Illinois pay less to go to school at UWM than public universities in their own state. Seeing an opportunity, UWM has aggressively recruited south of the border. As a result, the number of Illinois students in this year\u2019s freshman class rose 40 percent, and the overall Illinois student population is up 37 percent.<\/p>\n

Mone pointed to several successes over the past year:<\/p>\n